Radio Galaxy Zoo: observational evidence for environment as the cause of radio source asymmetry
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Observations, comprising radio imaging at three frequencies, optical broadband and narrow-band imaging, optical spectroscopy, and K-band IR imaging, of a distant radio source, 4C 41.17, are presented. It is shown that 4C 41.17 is associated with an extended source of optical and IR emission at a redshift of 3.8. The morphological similarities between the radio source and the ionized gas and optical/IR continua suggest that the radio source is interacting vigorously with the galaxy. Various mechanisms for producing the optical/IR emission in 4C 41.17 are considered. It is concluded that a large fraction of the spectral energy distribution is from stars, and that the star formation induced by the radio source is the likely mechanism to account for the radio/optical alignment.
Convincing evidence for the interaction between jets and their environments has been found in many extragalacti radio sources.
Analytical arguments are presented to demonstrate that the morphology of the host galaxy will influence the type of radio signature emitted by the nucleus, which is in many cases presumed to a black hole. The types of matter inflows and consequent shapes of the accretion disks around the nuclei of spiral and elliptical galaxies are discussed. If the inflowing matter is predominantly cold and clumpy, then stars will tend to form and only the available hot gas will descend into the center. Collimated radio jets will appear only in the presence of hot interstellar gas in elliptical galaxies and not in spiral galaxies. The implications of the predictions for the interpretation of observational data on, e.g., BL Lac objects and N galaxies are discussed.
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Observation of fringes from 31 compact radio sources, including eight known or suspected galaxies and 20 known or suspected QSSs, by using the Goldstack interferometer at lambda = 3.8 cm (d/lambda = 10 to the 8th power). Fringe visibility curves were obtained for nine sources showing structure on a scale of .001 sec of arc, and simple models are fitted to the data. Results for 3C 273 and 3C 279 are compared with data taken by Knight et al. (1971) at an earlier epoch. The apparent changes in brightness distribution of 3C 273 and 3C 279 are difficult to explain.
HB9 is a 2-deg-diameter radio shell with X-ray emission from a broad diffuse band in the interior. Within this band, a weak unresolved X-ray source coincides with the radio source 4C 46.09. To identify this source CCD I and V band pictures and a spectrum were obtained. The source is a galaxy at redshift 0.195, and is therefore only accidentally aligned with HB9. The galaxy is large and bright and has the characteristics of a cD galaxy, often found at the center of clusters. If the galaxy is centered in a cluster, some of the surrounding diffuse X-rays may also be extragalactic.
This work represents a part of a long-term study of the X-ray flux variability of 3C 120 and its relation to flux and structural changes in the radio jet of this galaxy. The grant included fiinding for the rediiction and analysis of data obt,ained during the time pwiod of Rossi XTE cycle 8 (March 1, 2003-February 29, 2004). Prior RXTE observations, combined with single dish monitoring at centimeter wavelengths and 43 GHz mapping (monthly until February 1999 and bimonthly thereafter) of the inner jet with the VLBA, had identified the presence of X-ray dips in the light curves and X-ray spectral hardening 4 weeks prior to the ejection of new VLBI components in the radio jet. This suggested a picture in which the radio jet was fed by accretion events near the black hole. The specific goals of the cycle 8 observations were to better define the relation between the X-ray dips and the radio events using higher sampling, to include more events in the correlation and hence improve the statistics, to look for a possible optical X-ray connection, and to search for quasi periodicities on timescales of 1-3 days. In cycle 8 this project was awarded time for 4 pointings weekly with RXTE.
X-ray observations obtained with the Einstein Observatory are presented for the Abell clusters A 98, A 160, A 278, and A 569, which are characterized by the presence of an extended radio source associated with the brightest cluster galaxy. The X-ray brightness profiles are fitted with a hydrostatic-thermal model to determine the physical parameters of the X-ray emitting gas and the behavior of the thermal pressure in each cluster. The gas thermal pressure is then compared with the nonthermal pressure within the radio sources, and the conditions for pressure balance are analyzed. The radio source components show a minimum pressure lower than the pressure of the ambient gas. Balance between internal and external pressure is obtained in the case that the usual assumptions for the computation of the energy density in the radio source components are not valid (Phi less than 1, k greater than 1) or that physical conditions are out of equipartition.
Calculations modeling the effects of stellar evolution on the observed colors of elliptical galaxies suggest that the shape of their spectra should remain almost constant in the red and near-infrared for red shifts greater than two. In order to test this idea, JHK photometry of optically faint radio source identifications believed to be faint elliptical galaxies were carried out. Photometric redshift estimates have been made using three different models: a nonevolving elliptical galaxy spectrum, an evolving spectrum based on one of Bruzual's calculations, and an empirical model derived from photometry of distant elliptical galaxies. Redshifts greater than 0.5 are systematically under-estimated by the first two models and for galaxies whose colors are not consistent with the models, deviations occur not only in the optical bands but also in the infrared. The difficulties are not resolved by the addition of a quasar-like nucleus to the galaxies.
The model of Bicknell, Dopita, & O'Dea (1997) suggests free-free absorption as an explanation of the PKS 1718-649 radio spectrum. However, both free-free absorption and synchrotron self-absorption mechanisms are plausible for this source and both may contribute to the overall radio spectrum.
The previously analyzed X-ray features of Cygnus A which coincide with the radio/optical core and radio hotspots are considered. Based on the Rosat high resolution imager (HRI) observations, the cavities in the projected X-ray surface brightness caused by the radio lobes and the excess emission from shocked inter-cluster medium (ICM) between the lobes and the bow shock are discussed. The data are compared to the predictions of an analytical model and of a 3D numerical simulation.
High-resolution NIR images of the visually obscured central region of Centaurus A (NGC 5128) were obtained with the University of Texas array camera on the AAT in June 1988, in order to investigate the effect of the active nucleus on the surrounding galaxy. The J (1.25 micron), H (1.65 micron), and K (2.2 micron) images of the central 40 arcsec of the galaxy revealed an emission feature extending about 10 arcsec northeast of the nucleus at the same position angle as the X-ray and radio jets. This jet is most prominent at the 1.25 micron wavelength, where its brightness was comparable to that of the nucleus. The observed properties of the 'infrared jet' were found to be similar to those seen in distant radio sources.
We compare the RXTE X-ray light curve of 3C 120 from our late 1997 to early 2000 observations, plus early 1997 archival data, with both the cm-wave light curves (University of Michigan Radio Astronomy Observatory) and the times of ejections of apparent superluminal components (from VLBA observations). There is no correlation between the X-ray and radio light curves. However, the epochs of all four observed superluminal ejections correspond, to within the errors, with pronounced dips in the X-ray light curves (photon energies in the range 2-20 keV). This behavior is similar to that of the binary-system 'microquasar' GRS1915+105 in the Milky Way galaxy, although in 3C 120 there is no evidence for rapid, quasi-periodic fluctuations in X-ray flux. These observations therefore support the notion that in active galactic nuclei eruptions of energetic outflow are related to excess accretion onto a supermassive black hole.
Models that treat events associated with quasi-stellar objects as plasma phenomena
Perseus A, 4C 12.50, and Cygnus A have been observed in the CO(J = 1 to 0) line. In Perseus, an estimate of 3.2 x 10 to the 9th solar masses is found for the molecular gas in the giant galaxy in the cluster center. An upper limit of M(H2) = 9 x 10 to the 9th solar masses is obtained for the galaxy in the center of Cygnus A. The results suggest that large amounts of molecular gas, and thus high rates of star formation, are involved in the genesis of the central engines that power extragalactic radio sources.
The XMM observations of Mkn 668 have been analyzed. We found soft X-ray signatures of a hot plasma (kT approximately 10^7 approximately K) and a hard X-ray emission from the nucleus. The X-ray spectrum above 2.5 approximately keV is characterized by a very flat (observed photon index, Gamma approximately 0.5) power-law continuum, alongside with a strong Fe-K-alpha neutral iron fluorescent line (EW approximately 600 approximately eV). The best explanation for the origin of this high energy X-ray emission is in terms of the Compton-reflection of the nuclear emission. The primary X-ray emission is obscured by a Compton-thick (N_H approximately 10^24 approximately cm-2) matter which becomes transparent at higher energies. The observed above 2.5-keV X-rays are mostly due to reflection which is indicated by a strong Fe-K-alpha line. This represents the second hard X-ray detection of the GPS galaxy ever (the first one being 1345+125; O Dea et al. 2000). Interestingly, the both such trend is confirmed by our on going XMM-Newton observations of a larger GPS sample, it would lead us to looking into the question on how the dense nuclear environment impacts the nature and evolution of a GPS source, and more generally, on the history of radio power in the universe. The paper summarizing the results has been submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysics in December 2003.